Graduate & Professional Degrees

The Master of Business Taxation — Working Professionals (MBT.WP) program is designed for students who wish to remain fully employed while pursuing their graduate studies. The program is very flexible, allowing students to complete classes either on ground at the University Park Campus or online. Entering students must have a minimum of one year of experience in tax.

The Master of Business Taxation (MBT.WP) program offers students: 1) technical and conceptual knowledge; 2) professional development; 3) applied data analysis; 4) research/life-long learning; 5) ethics and professional standards; and 6) globalization and diversity. For details on these student learning outcomes, see the program website at marshall.usc.edu/mbt/academics.

Application

An undergraduate accounting or business major is not necessary though one year of work experience in tax is required. The program enrolls students in the summer or fall. For application information visit marshall.usc.edu/mbtwp/admissions.

Program Requirements

The program requires completion of 30 units. Degree requirements consist of five core courses and 15 elective units. 

The Business Taxation Graduate Certificate is designed for students who wish to remain fully employed while pursuing their graduate studies online. 

The program offers students 1) technical and conceptual knowledge, 2) professional development, 3) research and lifelong learning, 4) ethical and professional standards, and 5) globalization and diversity. For details on these student learning outcomes, see the program website at marshall.usc.edu/mbt/academics.

The Certificate can be completed on a full-time or part-time basis.

Application

An undergraduate accounting or business major is not necessary though one year of work experience in tax is required. The program enrolls students in the summer or fall. For application information visit marshall.usc.edu/mbtwp/admissions.

The PhD program in Cancer Biology and Genomics (CBG) focuses on training investigators in strategies to understand the mechanisms of cancer development and progression which includes cell biological and genomic approaches. The ultimate objective is to translate basic findings into diagnostics, treatments and ultimate cures. The program applies a multidisciplinary approach toward these goals, with the full realization that cancers in different organs represent different diseases. However all cancers relate to uncontrolled cell proliferation with many cancers having a strong genetic predisposition. Consequently, major features of this program include the breadth of medically related interests and training and faculty characterized by wide and varied skills in many cancer-related research areas. To facilitate the application of multidisciplinary approaches to make cancer a disease of the past, close and regular contact between participating faculty of different disciplines and students is a major theme of this PhD program.

Cancer Biology and Genomics students are required to take CBG 580 and CBG 504 and must complete a total of 4 units from the following: INTD 549, INTD 685, MPTX 500, PM 512, PM 517a, PM 517b, PM 533*, PM 534*, PM 570*, PM 579, PM 599, TRGN 510, TRGN 514, TRGN 515 or other courses approved by the academic adviser. Starting from the second year and onwards, students must enroll in CBG 574 and CBG 580 during the fall and spring semesters until they graduate. In addition, students are required to complete at least 4 units of CBG 794a Doctoral Dissertation, CBG 794b Doctoral Dissertation.

PhD students must supplement course work by registering for CBG 790 Research during the fall, spring, and summer semesters as needed to complete the minimum 60 units required for the PhD program.

As part of the requirements for the PhD degree in Cancer Biology and Genomics, students must adhere to the unit/course requirements, guidance committee and dissertation committee guidelines and must complete the qualifying examination, annual research appraisal, and dissertation and oral defense as outlined in the sections following the descriptions of the PhD programs.

USC Gould School of Law offers a two-year Master of Laws (LLM) program designed to introduce students to core doctrines of American law. During the first year, students explore the fundamental principles underlying the U.S. legal system by completing the Certificate in U.S. Legal Studies, and  any required American Language Institute (ALI) courses to improve their English fluency. During the second year, students enroll in courses to complete the Master of Laws (LLM) degree. Students must earn a GPA of 2.6 or higher in all LAW courses to earn the certificate and enroll in an LLM degree.

To qualify for admission to USC Gould School of Law's Two-Year Extended LLM, students must have earned their first law degree (LLB or the equivalent) outside of the United States. However, students may be considered for admission if they provide evidence of recent legal work experience and hold a bachelor's degree or its equivalent in another field. For more information, please visit the USC Gould School of Law Website.

The Master of Science in Chemical Engineering is awarded in strict conformity with the general requirements of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and requires 28 units. Minimum registration in CHE 501, CHE 530, CHE 538, CHE 542 is required. 

For Admission Requirements, refer to USC Viterbi School of Engineering.

The Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in chemical engineering is awarded in conformity with the general requirements of the Graduate School. See general requirements for graduate degrees.

Satisfactory completion of at least 60 units of approved graduate level course work beyond the baccalaureate, with a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.0 is required of all PhD students in engineering. The 60 units minimum include research courses (590, 690, 790) and 4 units of 794a and 794b Doctoral Dissertation. PhD students must also complete the core requirement for their major as listed below. The core courses make a part of the 60 units requirement. The number of units taken at USC can be reduced by transferring graduate credits from another institution. Transfer/Waiver units are subject to approval by the Degree Progress Department (for course work taken at institutions in the United States) or by International Admission (for course work taken at institutions outside the United States), by the faculty adviser, and by each degree's respective department directors. Faculty advisers may also request students to take additional courses outside of the core requirements including specific elective courses.

Departmental Policies and Requirements

In addition to the general requirements for the PhD described in this catalogue, candidates in chemical engineering are required to demonstrate proficiency in the following fields: thermodynamics, transport and chemical engineering kinetics. In addition, students must register in the department seminar course CHE 550 each semester for four semesters or until they pass their qualifying exam, whichever is earlier. 

Course Requirements

Completion (with no course grade lower than B-) of 24 units of courses selected from chemistry, physics, mathematics, and engineering, with an overall grade point average not lower than B. These courses must be selected with the advisement and approval of first, the research adviser, and then the thesis chair. All other requirements and procedures are the same as for the PhD in Chemistry.

Qualifying Exam Committee

The qualifying exam committee is composed of the research adviser, three other members of the Chemistry Department, and one member from outside the Chemistry Department. The committee is appointed prior to the screening procedure.

Course Requirements

The student must pass a series of graduate courses totaling at least 24 units. The qualifying exam committee may require more than 24 units of graduate course work. Sixty units of registration, including CHEM 790 and CHEM 794a CHEM 794b CHEM 794c CHEM 794d CHEM 794z, are required for the PhD Registration for CHEM 790 and CHEM 794a CHEM 794b CHEM 794c CHEM 794d CHEM 794z should be done with the approval of the staff graduate adviser.

Screening Procedure

The screening requirements designated by the department for continuation in the doctoral program are: an overall grade point average of B or better in at least 24 units by the end of the fourth semester of course work with no grade lower than B-; and a successful research seminar presented by the student to the qualifying exam committee. Only students who have passed the screening requirements are allowed to take the qualifying examination.

Qualifying Examination

The qualifying examination requires the presentation of two original research proposals, or one original research proposal and one critical review of a scientific article, and oral defense of all of these. The qualifying examination is administered by the qualifying exam committee, which should not be chaired by the research adviser.

Dissertation

An acceptable dissertation based on completion of an original research project is required. The candidate must defend an approved penultimate draft of the dissertation in an advertised oral thesis defense lecture, which is open to the scientific community. The dissertation committee consists of three members of the qualifying exam committee including the research adviser and the outside member.

Foreign Language Requirement

The department has no foreign language requirement.

The graduate certificate in Child and Family Well-Being is intended to guide specialized integrated practice with children and families. Course work applied to this certificate incorporates specialized practice with young children, adolescents, and policy practice regarding children, and issues regarding child protection. Additionally, students will have the opportunity to add a selective course that will enhance their practice with children and families such as substance use, domestic violence, and transition-age youth.

The USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work offers university certificates that provide students advanced practice or research training through a social justice and intercultural competence lens that emphasizes community, organizational and environmental justice. Certificates are designed to complement and deepen training provided through our degree programs by focusing on experiential application of concepts in relation to particular and diverse client populations, settings, and systems. Each certificate consists of at least 12 units, which may in part be satisfied by courses completed for a degree program. Certificates are also available to graduate students from other disciplines and to employed professionals.

The graduate certificate in Child and Family Well-Being requires a minimum of 12 units.

Overview

The DMA in Choral Music consists of the following areas of study: the basic DMA curriculum, course work in the major, an academic field and two elective fields.

Degree Prerequisites

DMA applicants must complete the appropriate master of music degree program or its equivalent.

Admission

Admission to Thornton programs is granted through the USC admission process. Applicants are screened by appropriate faculty selection committees. Specific entrance requirements are reviewed on an annual basis and published online at music.usc.edu.

Grade Point Average Requirements

A minimum grade point average of 3.0 (A = 4.0) is required for all graduate course units in music. A grade of B or higher is required for all courses in the major field. For courses in academic and elective fields, the minimum passing grade is C.

Transfer Credit

The Degree Progress Department in the Office of Academic Records and Registrar determines whether course work taken elsewhere is available for transfer credit. A maximum of 30 units of transfer credit may be applied toward a doctoral degree in music. Whether such credit is applicable toward a specific requirement in a major or minor field is determined by the Thornton School department in which the subject is taught, pending approval by the dean of the Thornton School. Transfer credit petitions must be filed with the Thornton doctoral adviser during the first semester in residence. Transfer work must have been completed within 10 years of admission to the DMA program to be applied toward that degree.

Residence Requirement

A minimum of two years of full-time study beyond the Master of Music degree is required for the Doctor of Musical Arts. At least one year of full-time study beyond the master's degree (6 units or more per semester) must be in residence at USC.

Time Schedule

The time limit for completing the Doctor of Musical Arts degree is eight years. For students who earned an applicable master's degree within five years prior to admission to the doctoral program, the time limit for completing the Doctor of Musical Arts degree is six years. Progress is measured from the beginning of the first course at USC applied toward the degree. Extensions will be granted by petition to the Thornton School for only the most compelling reasons.

Music Graduate Entrance Exams

All students entering a graduate-level degree program (MA, MM, DMA and PhD) at USC Thornton, who have not previously completed a degree at USC Thornton, must take a series of entrance exams in core music subjects. These exams are called Music Graduate Entrance Exams (MGEEs). Information regarding which exams are required for specific majors is available from the Thornton Student Affairs office. Also see the Thornton School of Music Admission to Graduate Standing section of this catalogue for specific policies relating to these exams.

Foreign Language

An academic reading knowledge of a language other than English is required of all Thornton doctoral students. This requirement can be met in any of the following ways:

• Completion of a prior degree, as verified on an official transcript, from an accredited institution of higher education at which the primary language of instruction is a language other than English.
• Completion of at least three semesters of college-level language instruction in a language other than English, as verified on an official transcript, at an accredited institution of higher education.
• Completion of one or more USC language course(s) (in a language other than English) as approved by the Thornton School.
• Earning a passing score on a written examination (in a language other than English) as approved by the Thornton School.

Departments within the Thornton School may require additional language skills. All language requirements must be fulfilled before entering the third semester in the program. Students who have engaged in extensive study of one or more languages other than English that does not meet this requirement as described above may request an exception.

Course Requirements

Each student is required to complete four areas of concentration: the major field, an academic field and two elective fields.

Required courses for each major curriculum are listed in the description of major programs below. Required courses for any academic or elective field are determined for their respective fields by the faculty advisers on a student's DMA guidance committee.

A minimum of 65 graduate units beyond the bachelor's degree are required to complete a DMA degree. Fifty-five or more units must be in music, 12 of these beyond the master's level must be in the major. At least 40 of these must be at the 500 level or higher. All course work earned under these requirements for a doctoral degree is considered to be obsolete after 10 years from the date of completion of such work and may not be used to fulfill degree requirements.

Academic and Elective Fields

For the academic field students must choose one from Musicology, Theory and Analysis, Music Teaching and Learning, Choral Music or Sacred Music. For the elective fields students will choose two fields from among 50 possible areas, including Composition, Performance, Early Music, Jazz Studies, Music Teaching and Learning, Choral Music, Sacred Music, Conducting, Pedagogy, Electroacoustic Media, Music Industry, as well as areas outside of music. The fields comprise courses that are determined by the department in which they are administered. Eight to 10 units are taken in the academic field. Six to 8 units are taken in each elective field. The academic field may not duplicate a major or an elective field. No more than two of the four fields of concentration may be under the guidance of the same department within the Thornton School of Music, and at least one of the elective fields must culminate in a substantial written paper or examination. Students must apply to their chosen fields. Admission to academic and elective fields is determined by the appropriate department, prior to the Graduate Committee Interview. Individualized programs of study will be created in each field in consultation with a faculty adviser in each area.

Graduate Committee Interview

Before the completion of 16 units beyond the master's degree and before permission to present the second doctoral recital is requested, doctoral students must meet with the Graduate Advisory Committee of the Thornton School of Music to discuss their progress in the program and their goals for the future. In preparation for this interview, students must prepare a dossier according to specific instructions available from the Thornton doctoral adviser. The committee determines the student's continuation in the program, and approves both the student's individualized curriculum (including all fields of concentration) and the members of his or her DMA guidance committee.

DMA Guidance Committee

The DMA guidance committee is composed of at least five members: two faculty members from the major department, one of whom will serve as chair, and a faculty member from each of the three other areas of concentration. At least three members of a committee must be full-time faculty of rank in the Thornton School. The composition of the DMA Guidance Committee is proposed and approved as part of the Graduate Committee Interview.

The guidance committee administers the written and oral parts of the comprehensive examination. The committee continues to serve until the comprehensive examination has been passed, the dissertation topic approved (if applicable) and the student is admitted to candidacy (if applicable). For students in curricula that require recitals, the two major field advisers serve as the recital committee and are responsible for determining the approved format, content, scheduling, and presentation of these performances for credit toward the requirements of the degree.

Comprehensive Examination

The comprehensive examination for the DMA is administered by the student's guidance committee. This examination consists of written and oral components and is designed to assess the student's mastery of his or her fields of concentration and readiness for professional independence as a performer, composer, teacher, researcher and/or scholar. The student must obtain permission from the guidance committee to take the comprehensive examination and schedule it at least two months in advance to ensure the committee's availability. The examination must be taken after completion of all required course work for all fields of concentration, except (in some cases) a limited number of the required units of Individual Instruction in the major field. In degree programs that require the presentation of four major recitals, at least two major recitals must be presented prior to the administration of the comprehensive examination. Up to two required recitals may be presented after the comprehensive examination. The dissertation (if required) must be written after the comprehensive examination. Comprehensive examinations will not be scheduled during summer sessions except under extraordinary circumstances and only with the written approval of members of the guidance committee. All portions of the examination must be completed within one month.

The comprehensive examination comprises a substantial culminative work for each field of concentration, as well as an oral examination with the student's guidance committee. The culminative work for each field may be a written examination, paper, project or recital, as appropriate for the particular field. For the academic field and at least one elective field, this culminative requirement must be a substantial written examination or paper. Following the successful completion of all culminative requirements and the approval of each by the corresponding faculty adviser, the student will sit for a two-hour oral examination with the guidance committee. This oral examination covers in greater depth the topics discussed in the written examinations and other requirements for the fields of concentration. The oral examination may also cover new material as determined by the guidance committee.

The two major field advisers and the academic field adviser must be present at the oral examination and render a judgment on the acceptability of the comprehensive examinations as a whole. It is highly preferable that the faculty advisers for the two elective fields participate in the oral examination with the other members of the guidance committee. If, however, there are challenges with scheduling or other issues that are reasonably unresolvable, the participation of the faculty advisers for elective fields is not required for the oral examination if they feel that the candidate has demonstrated knowledge and mastery of material that is appropriate for an elective field in their disciplines.

The examinations will be reported as passing if there is no more than one dissenting vote on the committee. A student must pass both the written and oral portions to pass the comprehensive examination. A pass on the examination cannot be made contingent upon any form of additional work.

If a student fails the comprehensive examination, the guidance committee may permit the student to repeat it once at a mutually satisfactory time within a period of not less than six months nor more than one year from the date of the first oral examination. A student may not take the comprehensive examination more than twice.

The comprehensive examination serves as the qualifying examination for programs that require a dissertation.

Admission to Candidacy

For the DMA in Choral Music, admission to candidacy occurs after the student has passed the comprehensive examination, upon formal action of the dean of the Thornton School. The dissertation must be completed after admission to candidacy.

Doctoral Dissertation

A dissertation based on original investigation and/or creative work is required of candidates in Composition, Music Teaching and Learning and Choral Music. The dissertation must reveal scholarly ability, technical mastery, capacity for independent research and originality in creative thought.

Dissertation Committee

After the guidance committee recommends admission to candidacy and approves the dissertation topic, the committee is reduced to three members. This smaller committee shall be the dissertation committee and will guide the student through the completion of the dissertation. Additional members may be added at the discretion of the chair of the committee if the topic requires special expertise.

Registration for Dissertation

The student must register in 794 Dissertation each semester after admission to candidacy until degree requirements (including the dissertation) are completed. Registration for 794 in no less than two regular semesters following admission to candidacy entitles the candidate to supervision by the dissertation committee. If the dissertation is not completed and accepted within two semesters, the candidate must register for 794 each semester thereafter until the document has been accepted. No more than 8 units of credit in 794 may be accumulated regardless of the number of semesters the candidate may be required to register.

A candidate who must withdraw temporarily from registration in 794 for a semester must report this in writing to the Thornton doctoral adviser before the beginning of that semester. As part of that report, the candidate must also petition for a formal leave of absence. During a leave of absence the candidate will not be entitled to assistance from his or her dissertation committee or to the use of university services and facilities. A leave of absence will be granted only under exceptional circumstances.

Format for Theses and Dissertations

All dissertations submitted for requirements for graduate degrees must conform to university regulations in format and method of preparation. See the USC Graduate School's guidelines for Theses and Dissertations.

Abstract of Dissertation

Since the abstract of the dissertation is published in Dissertation Abstracts International, it should be written with care and be representative of the final draft of the dissertation.

Defense of the Dissertation

After meeting all requirements including the comprehensive examination, the candidate must defend the dissertation. This defense takes place in order for the committee to determine whether the dissertation should be approved or rejected. While this oral defense is open to the general university community, only the members of the dissertation committee have the authority to recommend its acceptance or rejection. The recommendation must be unanimous in order for the dissertation to be approved.

At least seven weeks before the scheduled date of the defense of the dissertation, written approval by all members of the candidate's dissertation committee, along with a typed copy of the dissertation abstract, must be filed with the doctoral adviser of the Thornton School of Music.

A candidate may defend the dissertation on the basis of an approved preliminary copy. If the defense is satisfactory and the committee is satisfied with the manuscript as presented, the committee then signs the Approval to Submit Defended and Final Copy of the Doctoral Work form. If additional work is required, the form is left unsigned until the work has been approved.

The final electronic PDF copy of the dissertation, together with signed signature sheet and approval forms, must be presented to the Thesis Editor in the USC Graduate School by the Graduate School's submission date and times. Approval of format and acceptance by the Graduate School must be presented to the doctoral adviser of the Thornton School of Music at least one week before the end of the semester.